Hero
by Beautiful Allusion
Summary: Merlin burns toast, Arthur teaches him to drive, Nimueh causes an accident, and then everything comes down to Ben10 themed bedrooms and how no matter what happens it doesn't change anything. Not about how they feel, not about who they are. AU fluff angst.
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: I do not own Merlin or any other recognisable characters or setting within this story. I make no profit, and claim no credit to anything but the plot line and wording. No copyright infringement is intended.

A/N: This was written after an original idea I had, which will comprise the second piece of my two-shot. It is slash, and it is a modern AU, where Arthur is teaching Merlin to drive. The woman in the red car, is supposed to be Nimueh, but her appearance can be mistaken for Morgana, as I have been told. I hope you like it, its been sitting on my laptop for ages now, evolving into a multi-chapter story and then back into a one-shot and not finally, the finished product! =) Please review, I haven't posted anything for a long time, and it'd be a lovely surprise since my final year of high school has just started its last term. Thanks much, Ange.

Hero

"Okay, now gently put your foot on the accelerator until you hit the speed limit, and we want to turn right up here, so don't forget to indicate," Merlin nodded as Arthur gave his instructions and barely restrained himself from commenting on how much of a prat he was when it was excessively clear that Merlin already knew how to at the very least start the car; they had only been doing this for, hmmm, six months now, "Merlin! I said gently!"

"Sorry," Merlin gave a tight lipped smile that was obviously straining to hold in a laugh and Arthur narrowed his eyes, "I do know a little bit about what I'm doing you know."

"I am very well aware of your capabilities," Arthur let off coolly as he glanced out of the rear view mirror and looked at the empty road behind them, "I just want you to be careful since you haven't driven for a couple of months and are a bit out of practice."

The blonde almost moved to slap himself as the words came out of his mouth and Merlin got that soppy look on his face that seemed to only appear at a moment in time where one of them was being a complete… _girl_, talking about something usually off limits like romance or fluffy toys or whatever girls generally talked about, "I mean, it is you we're talking about, and with your level of competence at making something like… toast for example, me letting you at a machine that has the potential to kill ten people milling about on a footpath in one go is a slightly risky move."

Merlin pouted and Arthur restrained the urge to slap himself across the face yet again, settling instead for lightly rubbing the bridge of his nose with his fingers and then turning to face the sulky brunette, "and also I'd have a great deal of grief waiting for me if anything ever happened to you, so lets get this drive started shall we? I'm still having trouble figuring out why you didn't go through all this when you were younger; isn't twenty three a little bit old to be learning how to drive?"

"It isn't," Merlin's face now sported a rather large grin and Arthur despite himself was finding it hard not to smile himself, "lots of people don't learn how to drive at all, let alone when they're teenagers. I'm not just a hopeless case here."

Arthur felt Merlin jump slightly as his hand gripped lightly at his cheek and turned the smaller man to look at him, mindful that the ignition had been turned off after they were safely back against the curb, "I never said you were hopeless."

"Ye–," Arthur rolled his eyes and silenced Merlin with a kiss, pulling back to look into his eyes for a moment before motioning to the road before them.

"So, you gently place your foot on the accelerator and pull away from the curb, and I mean it, don't forget to indicate, this isn't a forgiving road we're turning onto."

"It was this morning by the way," Merlin smiled as he saw Arthur glance at him in confusion from the corner of his eye as he pretended to fiddle with something on the radio, "you said I was a hopeless wreck when it came to making toast, right after you caught me trying to stick something in the toaster to get it out."

The brunette took Arthur's long suffering sigh as a sign to commence the driving lesson, pulling the car out onto the road and then quickening to the limit before indicating and slowing again on approaching the corner where they were supposed to turn.

"Just continue down here until you get to Abbott, then we want to turn and continue on to Langley," Arthur supplied as they drifted lazily along at the limit, "unless you want to head out more into the quieter areas, then turn right again up here."

Merlin followed Arthur's pointing finger to a small turn off and gave the appropriate signals, turning down the small road and then winding along it until it opened out a bit more, "not comfortable enough in the city, yet?"

"You're just still off about the toast," Merlin smiled satisfactorily to himself as he did a quick check behind him to see a red car coming up quickly from behind, "personally, I like mine a bit well done."

Arthur scoffed, "Well that's all well and good for you, but I prefer mine edible."

Merlin checked the rear view mirror again and furrowed his eyebrows at the red car; if it was travelling the limit it shouldn't have been heading towards them so fast – the speed limit had dropped as they turned off the main road.

"He's coming on awful quick," Arthur commented himself as he sat up a little and twisted around the head rest of his chair to get a better look, "pull of the road a little bit to let them through if they get any closer, just stick close to the side for the minute."

Merlin nodded his head mutely and pulled to the side of the road, continuing to drive along at the limit as the red car sped closer towards them, "Arthur?"

"Don't worry," the blonde's tone was serious as he kept watch on the red car and turned only momentarily towards Merlin, "stick to the side and you'll be fine; it looks like they're going to pass, just keep your eye on it."

Merlin nodded again and focused on the road as the red car came towards them, seeming to want to overtake them as it pulled up along side. Within a split second Arthur could see the woman driving twist her face into panic as she struggled to apply the handbrake and keep the car steady at the same time, dark brown locks framing her face in long curly strands that complimented her crystal blue eyes and pink painted lips as she tried in vain to slow down.

With one final twist it seemed she had engaged the handbrake, but the car swerved deftly towards them and caused Merlin to violently jerk the wheel, making their own car shift dangerously as Arthur struggled to find the handbrake himself.


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: **Okay guys and girls, this is the new replacement second chapter as I was unhappy with my original ending. If you read the first you'll see that the storyline has the same plot, it's just written much much better haha. Please give some feedback as I plan on continuing this fic and encouragement is always lovely. Thanks so much!

**The White**

A steady beep throbbed through Arthur's ears as he attempted to add sight to sound. The bright light of wherever he was caused him to suck in a small, sharp breath and close his eyes again before attempting a squint. Absolutely everything he could see was white. Except for that thing hovering above his head somewhere...

A small black square with little red and green dots on it was attached to the white washed wall above whatever Arthur was lying on. He noticed with a small pang of annoyance that it was what continued to emit the methodical beeping and that other little bits and bobs of wires and buttons were also above him on the wall. All white, blasted white like the rest of the wall.

Arthur narrowed his eyes and turned his head a little, feeling the brush of string or elastic against his cheek as he moved. With slight confusion he decided to remedy that in a moment, first continuing to examine his surroundings. A white wall to one side, white ceiling, black box on the white wall behind him. White, white, white. Arthur gave a frustrated huff and went to lift his head, coughing in shock as something thumped hard into his chest and left its steady weight there.

"Oh god, Arthur!" a tired and slightly choked female voice drifted towards him from the far corner of the room and Arthur finally opened his eyes all the way, forcing himself up and reaching for whatever it was on his chest, "Arthur, you're awake."

Blonde hair fell into his eyes as he leant down and met the sight of a small mop of black hair attached to the ten year old currently residing on his chest, "Mordred?"

Arthur's confusion deepened as he saw his boyfriends little brother clinging to him like his life depended on it, particularly considering that the lad had made it entirely clear that he did not and never would like Arthur in the slightest so long as he was obliged to be aware of his existence, "what's on my face?"

He raised one hand away from the boy he was hugging back and removed a plastic monstrosity from his face, noticing the itchy scratchy feeling of elastic had now left his cheek. The beeping once again reached his senses and with slight bewilderment as he reached back down to hold Mordred his eyes met the surroundings of a hospital room.

"I'm sorry, but what?" The blonde noticed a twinge in the muscles across the back of his shoulders as he continued to hold the sobbing boy against his chest, focusing on the figure of his mother Hunith in the corner, "Hunith?"

"Oh darling," Hunith seemed teary again as she started forwards and brushed the fringe away from Arthur's eyes, "you've been in an accident."

_An accident,_ Arthur turned the thought over in his head for a minute as Mordred pulled himself away from his shirt front and stared up at him with wide, red rimmed eyes, "I thought you were going to die! You can't die Arthur! What will Merlin do without you now?"

At the sound of his partners name Arthur suddenly whipped his head around the room again, ignoring the twinge from his temple as he did so. Hunith was shaking her head beside him and beginning to tear up in her own red rimmed eyes again, "darling you've been asleep for a while. Merlin is awake, but I'm afraid..."

The poor woman broke into sobs and her son stepped gingerly off Arthurs' bed to guide her to a chair, looking every inch as old as Arthur and his brother and nothing like the admittedly weird ten year old he was, "Arthur there's something wrong with Brin."

Arthur continued to stare at Mordred in a slightly intimidating manner, not even softening at the sound of Mordreds' childhood nickname for his brother – **Br**other Merl**in**; Brin. Unconsciously Arthur's hands had fisted themselves in the sheets beside his body and as he waited to hear whatever bad news he knew he was to receive the confounded beeping in the background grew faster and faster.

"The- the red car that hit you," Mordred was obviously trying to remain strong for his mother but his words still shook as he tried to force them out of his mouth, "Merlin can't walk anymore!"

As the words rushed out of Mordred the wind once again rushed out of Arthurs lungs as the boy launched himself towards him and hid his head once again in Arthur's chest. _Merlin can't walk, _kept throwing itself this way and that in Arthur's head trying to figure out what it meant, because obviously _it can't be... it can't be, Merlin can walk! Merlin CAN walk. Merlin walks all the time. He dances and walks and sings to himself in the kitchen. Merlin can walk. Obviously._

And that was really all Arthur could remember of those first few days waking up in hospital. He remembered white, so much white. And a stupid beep that made itself faster and slower and at one point almost drove him into madness if Morgana's account could be trusted. Obviously the concussion he had obtained has messed with his memory a bit, and the medication he was on for his pain had knocked him out for a fair majority of the next week... But sometimes, Arthur could remember Merlin. Merlin sitting in a chair beside his bed, eyes red rimmed like the rest of his family and shocking black hair plastered to his forehead. He remembered him saying the word sorry. Sorry, sorry, sorry. Sorry all over again.


End file.
